Do You Believe Me Now? Songfic
by LilyGhost
Summary: A Babe songfic told from Joe Morelli's point of view.


Based on the song "Do You Believe Me Now?" by Jimmy Wayne. A babe story told from Morelli's POV. All characters belong to Janet Evanovich. Any mistakes are mine.

I noticed that something had shifted in Stephanie and Ranger's relationship around the time Steph's Uncle Fred went missing. From the time they met, Ranger had always looked out for her. He seemed to drop whatever he was doing when Steph called asking him for help. And he broke into her apartment regularly before that. But after ... he gave her expensive cars, offered her jobs, and lent her his army of thugs whenever she was threatened. I'm sure he'd found her attractive before, I mean, who wouldn't? And there was no doubt that he liked her, since he seemed more than happy to have her around. But his whole attitude towards her changed. It was in the way he watched her, like a hunter whose prey was within sight. How he always stood so close to her that you'd swear they were touching from head to toe. How he knew exactly where she was almost every minute of the day.

I'd known Ranger a little before Steph got the job with Vinnie. And I appreciated having someone with his skills watching out for her. But, as her boyfriend, having him swoop in and save the day over-and-over again just pissed me off. If Manoso would have just backed off, I could have fixed things with Steph. I _know_ I could have. She would still be with me in my house, in my bed.

No matter how much I yelled, threatened, and warned her about him, she still claimed that her and Manoso were _friends_. Ranger wasn't interested in a relationship, she had told me at the time. I didn't have the heart to tell her that he didn't need a relationship to want to get her naked. One of our on-going fights had been about Ranger convincing her to work part-time again at Rangeman. I knew what he was doing but was I helpless to stop it since the last time I'd told her that Ranger was only trying to maneuver her closer to his bed, I got total denial on her part as well as my ass chewed out for being jealous.

"We're_ friends_, Joe," Steph had said."He's helping me out."

Yeah, I thought to myself, he'd be more than willing to help you out of your clothes, too._ That _time I was smart enough not to say it outloud, but she must have seen something in my expression.

"What?" She said to me, eyes narrowed."You don't think that someone would actually hire me without having an ulterior motive?"

"Cupcake," I said, trying to put my arms around her,"that's not what I ..."

"Save it, Joe," she said, and pulled away. I knew her feelings were hurt, and I thought it would be best to just let the subject drop, and not push. I wish to hell I would have pushed.

_Do you remember_

_The day I turned to you and said_

_I didn't like the way he was lookin' at you?_

_Yeah_

_How he made you laugh_

_You just couldn't get what I was sayin'_

_It was my imagination_

I knew Ranger wanted Steph. He'd been pressing up against her boundaries for years, but I still hadn't considered him all that big of a threat. I thought he was more about the chase than anything else. And once he'd gotten into her pants, or Steph became serious about him, the challenge of _catching_ her would have worn off and he'd get bored and move on. My worse case scenerio would have been that she'd fall for his practiced charm, but when he wouldn't give her more than a quick lay in between jobs she'd realize that she deserved more, and come back to me and to what I could offer her. In my mind, even if he managed to get her into bed, I'd still get the girl in the end. How fucked-up was that?

_So do you believe me now?_

_I guess I really wasn't that crazy_

_And I knew what I was talkin' about_

_Everytime the sun goes down_

_He's the one holdin' you baby_

_Yeah me I'm missin' you way 'cross town_

_So do you believe me now?_

I didn't know it at the time, but what turned out to be our _last_ argument happened in her apartment. We were standing toe-to-toe in her living room and I threw down another choose-me-or-your-job ultimatum. Unfortunately, for me, my rant ended at the same time her front door opened. The only people who continually broke into Steph's apartment were psychos trying to kill her, or Ranger. I'm ashamed to say that I was hoping for the psychos. At least I would have stood a chance against some crazy FTA. Whenever Manoso was around, I automatically came in a distant second.

As it was, Steph was telling me to leave. And Ranger, who was leaning arms crossed against the counter with a smug grin on his face, didn't look like he was willing to leave any time soon. I thought it best at the time to give her some room to cool off, before I tried to convince her that I was sorry, and that I only said what I did because I wanted what was best for her. I knew from the steam shooting out of Steph's ears, and the fact that Ranger was there, that she wouldn't give me a chance to take anything back.

I'd decided to give her three days. I figured I'd be missing her so much by then, that I wouldn't be in danger of shoving my foot in my mouth again. And it was always a good idea to give Steph some breathing room when she was pissed off at you. I learned that the hard way. After not seeing me for two years, she was still pissed enough at me to break my leg by running into me with her father's Buick. This time could be worse. She could break my heart.

But after only two days I knew it was over. Driving down Hamilton, I'd seen them coming out of Tasty Pastry. That in itself was mind-boggling, since everyone knew Ranger had some weird aversion to anything, food wise, that tasted good. Not to mention the fact that he was always trying to get Steph to eat less junkfood. Seeing the two of them, Ranger's hand sitting low on her hip and Steph leaning into him laughing holding the bakery bag that I knew contained two Boston cream doughnuts, hurt more than I thought possible because Ranger didn't look like he was going to get bored with her anytime soon. In fact, you could say that he looked almost_ human_. And Steph ... well she practically_ glowed_.

_I'm kickin' myself_

_For being the one foolish enough _

_Givin' him the chance to step in my shoes_

_Ohhh_

_He was bidin' his time_

_When he saw our love was havin' a moment of weakness_

_He was there between us_

Of course I'd tried one more time to get her back, but it was useless. I'd apologized for hurting her, for making demands, for asking her to sacrifice her job for me, but I could tell that this off-again phase was going to stick. At least, in Steph's mind it was going to stick. As much as I hated to admit it, she blended into Ranger's life seamlessly. And she seemed happier because of it. It was a hard pill to swallow after years of telling her to stay the hell away from him. Maybe, on some level, I knew that if Ranger ever let Stephanie get close to him, he'd give her everything she needed, and I'd lose her for good. And I was right.

_So do you believe me now?_

_I guess I really wasn't that crazy_

_And I knew what I was talkin' about_

_Everytime the sun goes down_

_He's the one that's holdin' you baby_

_Yeah me I'm missin' you way 'cross town_

_So do you believe me now?_

I sat watching as Ranger's men loaded boxes from Steph's apartment into two waiting Rangeman SUV's. Gripping the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white, I forced myself to stay inside my vehicle. I'd heard the rumors about Steph staying nights over at Rangeman, but I was trying to convince myself that maybe she'd moved into an apartment on the fourth floor. It was a hard sell even to me, but I was desperate.

After the initial denial wore off, I figured they were probably sleeping together, but there was no way in hell that I'd been prepared for this. I mean, I couldn't get her to stay more than a month in _my_ house without her picking a fight and moving out. But she'd willingly given up her apartment to live at the top of a goddamn security building surrounded by a bunch of criminals, and crazy mercenaries? And after only a couple of weeks?

I took a deep breath and whispered an _I-told-you-so_, but there was no joy in saying it. And I wasn't even sure if I was saying it to myself, or to Stephanie. I guess now it didn't matter anyway. As soon as the last box was loaded, I started my engine and drove home. It was going to take more than a couple of beers to block out this day.

_Oh yeah, I bet now you see the light_

_Oh yeah, what's the use in bein' right ..._

_When I'm the lonely one tonight?_

It was after midnight when I finally dragged myself upstairs to bed, but I couldn't sleep. I stood staring out my bedroom window willing time to go back. Out of all the women who would have killed to be Mrs. Joseph Morelli, I had to fall in love with the one woman who wasn't even tempted by the title. And if that wasn't bad enough, I had basically pushed her away by demanding she change what she wanted in life, her job, essentially asking her to give up what made her who she was. Which ultimately had her running straight to a man that I knew wanted her. Maybe she made the right choice after all. I didn't deserve her. She'd been mine for years, but I'd been too stupid to appreciate what I'd had.

I turned away from the window. There was only so much self-examination a guy could take. I had a double shift tomorrow and a town full of nosy people to face. It was going to be a long day. Hell, it was going to be a long life. One that I wasn't all that excited about, since a large part of it was now in the hands of someone else on the other side of town.

_So do you believe me now?_

_I guess I really wasn't that crazy_

_And I knew what I was talkin' about_

_Everytime the sun goes down_

_He's the one that's holdin' you baby_

_Yeah, me I'm missin' you way cross town_

_So do you believe me now?_

_Yeah_

_So do you believe me now?_

_Yeah_

_Everytime the sun goes down_

_He's the one that's holdin' you baby_

_Yeah, me I'm missin' you way 'cross town_

_So do you believe me now?_


End file.
